//------------------------------// // Visions and Fireballs // Story: Jason's Grand Tour of Equestria // by Paradox Theory //------------------------------// The Cave in The Everfree Forest "What do you mean 'close the Void'?!" Twilight yelled for the umpteenth time. "I mean, something is going to happen and to stop it, and get myself home, I have to close the Void." Jason explained again. "Sooo, what is the Void?" Twilight asked, not moving from the cave entrance. "From what I could tell, it's the gap between our Universes." Jason answered. "So what do we do now?" Rainbow asked in a bored tone. "Use this book to guide me towards pieces of armor known as 'Void Armor.' " Jason explained, waving the book in his hand. He then opened the book and started reading. While he did this, Applejack turned towards the CMC. "Ah' think y'all should head home now." She told them. "Aww, but we wanna help." Applebloom complained. "Yea, why does the adults get to have all the fun?" Scootaloo asked. "Because it's dangerous out there. Now go." Applejack commanded. The CMC then nodded and walked towards the entrance. until Jason spoke. "No, we'll need them Applejack." He stated without looking up. "And how are you so sure?" Applejack asked, a glare on her face. "Because the council told him so." a new voice replied. Everypony in the cave turned towards the new comer, each of them gasping in surprise. "And who in tarnation are you?!" Applejack exclaimed. "I am Rose, Jason's teacher in magic, and I will also assist him on this quest." Rose replied evenly, not breaking eye contact with Applejack. "And now that you've met her, we need to decide where to go first." Jason Informed them. "What we need is to go home and get some sleep, and tomorrow we will get ready for this quest." Twilight explained. "Okay, fine! Ponyville it is then!" Jason sighed. "And we'll still get to go on the quest with you?" Sweetie asked, giving Jason puppy dog eyes. "Yes, you will." He answered. "Yay!" The CMC cheered. Then, one by one, the ponies, and humans, left the cave. Soon only Applejack and Jason were left. "If any harm comes to them I swear-" Applejack began, only to get cut off. "Then I'll be in trouble, got it." Jason finished. He then left the cave. Applejack followed suit, still glaring. The Ponyville Library. "Well, because I only have one extra bed, one of you will have to sleep on the couch tonight." Twilight explained upon entering the house. "Rose can have it." Jason offered, knowing that it was a gentlemanly thing to do. "Don't be ridiculous, I prefer sleeping as a bat." Rose chuckled. "Wait, what?" Jason asked sharing a look that said the same thing with Twilight. "Transmutation, the art of changing one thing to another. And I like sleeping as a bat see?" Rose explained, her form shrinking and turning into that of a bats. "Night." She called from the ceiling. "I'm gonna forget I saw that." Twilight muttered to herself as she went upstairs. Jason walked down the hallway to the guest room, over to the bed and closed his eyes. mentally preparing for magic training in the morning. Jason's Vision Nothing. Jason saw nothing. No trees, no water, no cities or mountains, no sky or clouds. All he saw was nothing but a void. No not a void. The Void. And in the center of the Void was a girl, long dark brown hair. Her right hand held a sword. Her left held a broken helmet. In the helmet's reflection Jason saw her face. It was Jane. How? Why? Then Jason saw the ground in front of her. It was the only thing that held color. Green grass, and red blood, all surrounding a broken body. His broken body. And all the while, Jane mumbled, "The Void consumes all. None can escape it. It devours all. Earth and Equestria, and all worlds in between. None will escape it." Jason turned and ran, ran away from his sister, away from his body, away from the Void. As he ran, color bled into the dream, and he was now on a mountain top. below was the town of Ponyville.... being consumed by the void. Ponies were running away from it, and one night blue/black alicorn was trying to stop it, to force it back. But soon the alicorn was consumed, along with Ponyville. And then he heard it, the voice of the Void, shaking mountains and crushing buildings. "Your world has fallen, your champion lies dead. Your Time Traveler flees to the past, and my minion has slain your Sun. I have won!" The Void decreed, over the cries of pain and loss. Fires now raging to and fro. Mountains crumbling, water evaporating, and ponies dying. All because he had failed, Jason had failed. He then fell to his knees and began to cry. As he did a distant voice called out........ The Ponyville Library "Jason wake up! Stop crying! WAKE UP!" Rose yelled, trying to wake up a crying Jason. After a few minutes he stopped crying and opened his eyes. "It was just a dream?" Jason asked in disbelief. "Sorry, but, what was a dream?" Twilight asked from across the room, worry on her face. "Nothing, nothing at all." Jason lied, afraid to tell Twilight what he had seen. "Jason, I'm an expert in many fields of magic, including Dream magic, and I could tell, it was no dream." Rose explained, standing up. "Either way I'm fine." Jason answered. getting off his bed and heading for the door. "And if it wasn't a dream, then I will make sure it doesn't become real either. now come on, I have magic to learn." "Fine, let's go to the edge of the forest, that way we won't be Interrupted." Rose offered. Jason nodded in agreement and walked out the front door. "Find out what he was dreaming for me, would you?" Twilight whispered to Rose as they neared the door. "Oh don't worry, I plan to." Rose answered with a smile. She walked up to the door, turned into a cat, and ran towards the Everfree. Ready to train Jason in magic. And learn what his dream was. Edge of the Everfree Forest Jason was walking back and forth, wondering why he dreamt of the Void controlling his sister. But more importantly he wondered what an alicorn he had never seen before was doing there. Who was she? Not long after he started thinking, a small black cat walked up to him, opened it's mouth, and yelled: "Goood Mooorning Stuuudent! I'm your teacher Rose, and today we're starting off with the basics: summoning and controlling the elements! But first a question: what are the names of the elements?" Rose asked, rather cheerfully. Jason stood up, (for when the cat spoke he jumped so hard that he fell on his butt.) and answered: "Water, Earth, Air and Fire." Jason paused and thought for a moment. "And aren't you cheerful today?" he asked. "You are my first apprentice, I've never really trained anyone before. So I'm excited." Rose answered, she the gasped, "Oh, and you are correct!" she added. Jason opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by laughter. "Those aren't the Elements!" Rainbow laughed from on top of a cloud. "I thought you were getting ready for the quest Rainbow? and they are too the elements!" Jason shouted, causing Rainbow to laugh harder. "No, the Elements are Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty and Magic! You two couldn't control them alone." Rainbow explained, still laughing. Jason looked at Rose, who facepalmed. "I forgot about that," Rose admitted sheepishly, "But, Rainbow, the elements I'm talking about are different from the ones you know." "Oh, then prove it!" Rainbow challenged. Rose looked at Jason and smiled. "Sure thing Rainbow, but if you could move your cloud back," Rose asked. Rainbow nodded and pushed her cloud back a few feet. "First lesson: Fire. To summon it, visualize the air above the palm of your hand being consumed by fire." Rose instructed, extending her own hand, producing a small flame in her palm. Jason copied her, a very small flame in his hand. "Because you are using your own aura to power the fire, you can control how big the flame gets by how much emotion you pour into it." Rose explained, Increasing the volume of he own fire tenfold, "Now you try." she asked Jason. He looked at his flame and thought of his parents, how they must have missed him. How much he missed them, and how much he missed his sister. All of these thoughts faded as his fire grew larger than Rose's did. "Enough!" Rose shouted, afraid that Jason would burn the forest down. "What emotion were you feeding it?" she asked, in wonder and awe. "I don't know, I was just thinking of my family." Jason answered, his face falling. "You used love, love is the strongest emotion of them all, even hatred, anger, and greed are small compared to it. Continue feeding the fire love, and it will never fail you." Susan explained, a serious expression on her face. She suddenly shook her head and smiled again, "Let's teach you how to shoot fire balls now." So Jason and Rose practiced shooting fire at one another, Jason hitting Rainbow Dash every now and again. A few hours passed and all three of them laid in the grass to wait for the rest of the group. Their journey would begin in a few hours. Until then they just sat and talked, talked about the Void armor, and how they would find it. How long it would take. And who they would meet along the way.